In recent years, a plurality of application programs such as a mailer, a browser, a folder administration tool, and a media player application, for example, are installed in devices such as a PC, a terminal device, and a TV.
Such a terminal device with a plurality of application programs is, in general, provided with a menu window to select an application. A user is thus allowed to select an application from the menu window. Further, in some terminal devices, the menu windows are configured in a hierarchical structure so that each menu window is displayed on the screen on an application basis. When the menu windows are configured in such a hierarchical structure, the user can select an application through key operations and the like to trace down the hierarchy. Thus, the hierarchical structure of the menu windows can be considered to be more user-friendly in the terminal device having a number of application programs.
Upon selection of an application, a user operates an input unit being equipped to the terminal device. Generally, the terminal device is provided with an input unit including a mouse, a keyboard, direction keys, and a touch panel. Certain terminal devices are provided with two or more, or all, of those so that operations to select an application can be inputted through one of those as the input unit.
For example, menu items in a terminal device disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2004-178363 (see, for example, FIGS. 3 and 4) is configured in a hierarchy so that a user can easily provide an instruction to activate and display an application program in a lower layer, which belongs to an item in an upper layer. (For example, an application program such as “web browse” and an “E-mail” which are in lower layers can be activated to be displayed when an application program “custom menu” in an upper layer is selected.) In other words, the application program in a lower layer can be activated and displayed without an operation to track down the hierarchical layers.
For another example, in an information processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2003-29931, a list of programs including names and description of the programs is displayed as an operation to track down the hierarchy is performed so that the usability for the user to select a program is improved.
Further, for example, in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2005-98831, an in-car device capable of receiving an operation to select a menu in a hierarchy, which is given through a touch panel and a remote controller, is disclosed.
In the in-car device, a menu in an upper layer representing menu items in a hierarchical structure is displayed along with a menu in a lower layer corresponding to a selection among the menu items in the upper layer. During an operation through the touch panel, an operation to select either one of the menus in the upper layer and the accompanying lower layer, which are concurrently displayed, can be entered. Thus, according to the selection of the menu item in the upper layer, a menu corresponding to the selected menu item in the upper layer is displayed. Meanwhile, during an operation using the remote controller, a focused display is switched from the menu in the lower layer to the menu in the upper layer. Thereafter, the focus is switched within the menu in the upper layer. Further, the menu in the lower layer being displayed is switched to the menu corresponding to the menu item being focused in the upper layer. Each of the menus represents operations for, for example, play, pause, and switch display, which concern processing of the contents. In the in-car device, the menu windows to be operated through the touch panel operation and the remote controller operation are in an identical configuration.
Additionally, the device disclosed in the above-referenced publication No. 2005-98831 is provided with a function to display different menus depending on the input unit being used.
That is, a program menu, in which the user selects an application, is installed in the in-car device, and the program menu represents, for example, a TV menu for receiving a telecast, a video menu for playing video contents recorded in a hard disk drive, an audio menu for playing audio contents recorded in the hard disk drive, and a web menu for activating an internet browser. In the in-car device, display of the program menu adapted for the touch panel operation and display of the program menu adapted for the remote controller operation are in different configurations. The displaying methods of the program menu are switched according to the operations, which are given through the touch panel and the remote controller so that usability can be improved.